Vaccination Does Not Impact Long COVID Neurological Symptoms

Follow Drugslib on

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Jan 15, 2025.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 15, 2025 -- Vaccination prior to COVID-19 infection does not significantly affect neurological symptoms in patients with postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in Brain Communications.

Shreya Mukherjee, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues investigated whether vaccination prior to infection alters the subsequent neurologic postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (neuro-PASC). The analysis included data from 200 posthospitalization neuro-PASC (PNP) and 1,100 nonhospitalized neuro-PASC (NNP) patients evaluated at a neuro COVID-19 clinic between May 2020 and January 2023.

The researchers found that among PNP patients, 87 percent had a prevaccination infection, as did 70.7 percent of NPP patients. Breakthrough infections were associated with more frequent preexisting depression/anxiety. The three most common neurological symptoms for PNP patients were brain fog (86.5 percent), numbness/tingling (56.5 percent), and headache (56.5 percent) at an average of 10 months after symptom onset. PNP breakthrough infection was more frequently associated with anosmia. For NNP patients, the most common neurological symptoms were brain fog (83.9 percent), headache (70.9 percent), and dizziness (53.8 percent). For NNP patients with prevaccination infection, anosmia (56.6 versus 39.1 percent) and dysgeusia (53.3 versus 37.3 percent) occurred more frequently than for patients with breakthrough infection, whereas those with breakthrough infection more frequently reported dizziness (61.5 versus 50.6 percent). Impaired quality of life in cognitive, fatigue, sleep, anxiety, and depression domains were seen for all PASC patients, with no differences between prevaccination infection and breakthrough infection status.

"Taken together, these results indicate that, once PNP or NNP patients develop neuro-PASC, whether they contracted SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to, or after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination makes little difference in their clinical presentation, subjective alteration of quality of life or objective cognitive dysfunction," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2025-01-16 06:00

Read more

Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Drugslib.com is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Drugslib.com information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Drugslib.com does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Drugslib.com's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Drugslib.com's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners.

The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Drugslib.com does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Drugslib.com provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

Popular Keywords